All Suggestions Welcomed Were Planning A Budget Trip...

[w513mfs]

Hi all we are planning a 10 day trip next April. But this is going to be a trip on a budget. We usually don't worry to much about money and day to day spending nor our we wasteful. We probably sit some where in the middle. But I am currently in process of training to become a paramedic. So due to this money is a little restricted this trip.

So any general money saving ideas are welcome and appreciated.

[dotty]

Hi, I had 2 x10 day budget trips last year the first in May we stayed at cabana bay and did universal parks purchasing annual passes as the upgrade was only 5 dollars more than the uk price.
We also hired a car for 2 days to shop and explore further afield where we went to a state park and hired canoe,s and shopped.
Congo river golf also allowed us to purchase a discount free return non expired ticket for a further game which we purchased and then used in October.
October we stayed in Disney bubble, got an Uber to universal, and in the evening walked to Congo river and Applebee’s before getting an Uber back to Disney.
The remaining days we purchased tickets to Mickey Halloween and a 2 day ticket to Disney parks and chilled by the pool.
This was a massive saving for us and we honestly never felt like we were compromising we still ate all our meals out and had a blast.
This year is different as it’s a big occasion and family holiday but a cheeky 10 day break will be planned maybe next yr 😆

[candycat75]

I would book it last minute then as April is always cheap after Easter, I've got some great bargains that time of year

[duchy]

Forget Disney and do the other stuff.
We had five days in a studio on I Drive for less than £300
Discovery Cove non swim with Seaworld, Aquatica and Busch Gardens entry with free parking for 14 days was £170 pp , we stayed two nights in Tampa then moved on to Vero Beach flying back from Miami .
In some ways I enjoyed it more than our Disney trip seven months before as it was a lot less stressful without fastpasses, ADRs and crowds to deal with and despite eating really well and not stinging on anything the credit card bill now we are home was really fairly painless .

[Andybear]

Another option is to leave it till the following year when you've got more money.

[bex85chelt]

A bit more info on what you are thinking might be useful? what parks are you planning on?

Accommodation can be a good place to save a little money - not staying on site for example, getting an apartment with a small kitchen rather than a hotel room will mean you can have some meals in, even if that's just breakfast and snacks etc.

There are threads in the dining section about vouchers for money off in restaurants etc

[w513mfs]

Originally Posted by dotty

Hi, I had 2 x10 day budget trips last year the first in May we stayed at cabana bay and did universal parks purchasing annual passes as the upgrade was only 5 dollars more than the uk price.
We also hired a car for 2 days to shop and explore further afield where we went to a state park and hired canoe,s and shopped.
Congo river golf also allowed us to purchase a discount free return non expired ticket for a further game which we purchased and then used in October.
October we stayed in Disney bubble, got an Uber to universal, and in the evening walked to Congo river and Applebee’s before getting an Uber back to Disney.
The remaining days we purchased tickets to Mickey Halloween and a 2 day ticket to Disney parks and chilled by the pool.
This was a massive saving for us and we honestly never felt like we were compromising we still ate all our meals out and had a blast.
This year is different as it’s a big occasion and family holiday but a cheeky 10 day break will be planned maybe next yr 😆

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Hi Jo thanks for that advice its much appreciated how did you go about purchasing the two day tickets to Disney ?

Did you buy whilst their air before ?

[w513mfs]

Originally Posted by bex85chelt

A bit more info on what you are thinking might be useful? what parks are you planning on?

Accommodation can be a good place to save a little money - not staying on site for example, getting an apartment with a small kitchen rather than a hotel room will mean you can have some meals in, even if that's just breakfast and snacks etc.

There are threads in the dining section about vouchers for money off in restaurants etc

See more...

Sure here goes.

Regards flights i'm confident in finding a more than acceptable price for these as have done it many times and we are very flexible.

Car again we are very flexible and i have faith in my ability to know what is a good price and not. I cant see it being worth not having a car, but am happy to be convinced it is not a necessity. Part of reason why i posted.

Parks would probably be Magic Kingdom and Hollywood. But to be honest i have done Disney to death so happy to avoid, but maybe not wife.

I suppose i'm really asking about tips people have for keeping the day to day costs down. Such as food, entertainment out side of parks and villa vs hotel.

any ideas regards these are well appreciated.

Me and wife still have a water park day left on our non expire tickets so that's one day sorted.

Thanks also for all of the previous advice (except one) its all much appreciated.

[pluto99]

join the email clubs with a couple of different emails we got millers zingers free usaul price $10.50 md free flatbreads there worth $9ish, dennys will send u lots of 20% off vouchers uno gave us $10 off $40 spend same with bahama breeze, ihop u can get free stack of pancakes, steak n shake will send you a voucher for free double n cheese burger with fries and 2-5 its half price drinks too, we even got $30 hooters giftcard for$10 when we signed up with them , most days for 2 adults nd 1 child we spent under $100 inc parking some days

[offtoseemickey]

Accommodation - on I drive the Rosen Inn at Point and Rosen Inn International are so cheap and absolutely fine. Down nearer Disney we have stayed at Magical Moments resort which we got for next to nothing and was also fine, and included breakfast!

Food - sometimes we share a meal, we try to use coupons where we can. There is usually something reasonably priced on the menu that we like too. We take snacks from home and just have a snack when we start to feel hungry, it tides us over and we don’t waste so much time eating either. Also, fast food is so cheap in FL, we like Sonics, Panda Express, Taco Bell etc

Things to do - we like Disney Springs, Disney’s Boardwalk, Citywalk, mini golf, Celebration, mooching around Disney resorts, pool time, taking a drive. All of these things have very low costs. You could even drive to the beach. We’ve got very low priced tickets to NBA Orlando Magic games.

We ALWAYS look for coupons or just ask if there are discounts available.
We think about how we’re spending our money and try to get the most for our $.
We check out Groupon before our trip; we’ve got some decent deals in the past.
We don’t feel pressured into spending money. For example I’m more than happy with tap water with my meals, so that’s what I have a lot of the time, it’s saves money and it’s healthier.